Did Ivan Gazidis lie then or is he lying now?

As Ivan Gazidis reiterates that Arsenal can’t compete with the big boys on the world transfer stage, I ask is he lying when he says that or was he lying when he said we would soon be able to?

For the second time in a week, Arsenal’s chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, has looked to not only put the breaks on fans’ expectations during this window but make sure that they know we just don’t have the cash to compete with the super rich clubs.

I was forced to remember his numerous comments when people were asking why we hadn’t spent much during the time we’d been at the Emirates.

In 2013, Gazidis said“This year we are beginning to see something we have been planning for some time, which is the escalation in our financial firepower. It means we can look at some options that weren’t really in our financial capability.

“We should be able to compete at a level like a club such as Bayern Munich. I’m not saying we are there by any means but this whole journey over the past 10 years really has been with that goal in mind.

Ivan Gazidis says ‘blah blah blah’ (Photo by Tom Shaw/Getty Images)

“We are moving into a new phase where, if we make our decisions well, we can compete with any club in the world.”

Here’s Gazidis again in 2012 –“As we look to the next two, three years we will have an outstanding platform on which tocompete with any club in the world.“

On the back of those comments, it was surprising to hear him say last week,“We came in second last year, which was disappointing. But we’re on the right track. We’re making progress in what is a fiercely competitive world,against competitors that have the capability to spend far more money than we do.”